Sizer School will hold a lottery to determine which students to admit if there are more eligible applicants than seats available (603 CMR 1.05(6)(a) and (c)). Every time the admissions lottery takes place, the process will be fair and all rules will be consistently applied. Each lottery is conducted in public and will be held at Sizer School, 500 Rindge Rd., Fitchburg, MA 01420. An electronic lottery will be conducted wherein every applicant will receive an electronically generated random lottery number. These random lottery numbers will establish the initial rank order. After the initial rank order is created, sibling and residential preferences, as described below, will be applied. A neutral party shall certify that the process is fair and that the selection is random (603 CMR 1.05(9)).

Applicants who do not wish to have their name displayed at the public lottery must inform the school directly of this preference, in which case, the applicant’s initials will be displayed prior to receiving their electronically generated random lottery number.

If the principal enrollment process fails to fill available admission spaces, Sizer School may repeat the process more than once providing such process is fair and open. Additionally, as spaces become available during the school year prior to February 15th, Sizer School may repeat the enrollment process to fill these openings and to meet the requirements of (G.L. c. 70, § 89(n). 603 CMR 1.05(8)).

Sibling Preference

Siblings of enrolled Sizer students who attend the school at the time an offer of admission is made are given first preference, according to state law, and will be offered enrollment preference in the school ahead of all other students in the lottery (603 CMR 1.05(6)(b)). As defined by Massachusetts statutes, a sibling must share a common biological or legal parent with an actively enrolled student to receive the sibling preference. Proof of sibling status under this legal definition, such as birth certificates or adoption forms, may be required upon offer of admission.

Siblings who are concurrently applying (e.g. twins or siblings applying to multiple grades at the same time) do not receive preference for admission. An offer of admission does not give sibling preference to other siblings on the waitlist. The sibling preference is only activated for students whose sibling is currently attending the school, not students admitted via the lottery. Therefore, the sibling preference is activated for siblings on the waitlist on the first day the admitted student starts attending Sizer.

Residency Preference

Sizer School is a regional school, and second preference is given to applicants who reside in one of the Massachusetts school districts in the Sizer region [Ashburnham-Westminster, Clinton, Fitchburg, Gardner, Leominster, Lunenburg, Nashoba (Bolton, Stow, Lancaster), North Middlesex (Pepperell, Ashby, Townsend), and Wachusett (Holden, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland, Sterling)].

When submitting an application, reasonable proof of residency is required (603 CMR 1.05(10)(a)). Acceptable forms include:
• A Utility Bill (not water or cell phone) dated within the past 60 days
• A Deed, Mortgage Payment dated within the past 60 days, or Property Tax Bill dated within the last year
• A current Lease, Section 8 Agreement, or Landlord Affidavit.
• A W2 form dated within the year or a Payroll Stub dated within the past 60 days
• A Bank or Credit Card Statement dated within the past 60 days
• A Letter from an Approved Government Agency* dated within the past 60 days
This residency policy does not apply to homeless students. For the purpose of establishing preference for admission based on residency, Sizer School will collect proof of temporary residence from students who may be considered homeless on a case-by-case basis.

Updated reasonable proof of residency must be provided for students who are offered admission after having been on a waitlist (see Section 5b).

Lottery Procedure

The lottery will be conducted within 7 days of March 1st. Each year’s lottery date and time will be posted on the school’s website and calendar (www.sizerschool.org) and in each year’s informational materials; at least one week’s notice will be given of this date. All applicants who submit their application form before the principal application deadline will be included in the lottery. An electronic lottery will be conducted wherein every applicant will receive an electronically generated random lottery number. These random lottery numbers will establish the initial rank order.

After the initial rank order is created, sibling and residential preferences, as described above, will be electronically applied. Sizer School shall place the names of students not offered admission following a lottery on a waitlist in the order the names are selected (603 CMR 1.05(10)). Within two weeks of the lottery, all applicants will be notified of their enrollment status by email, mail, and/or phone call from the Recruitment Office.

Students offered a seat from March 1st to June 30th have 2 weeks (14 days) from initial notification to accept or decline their seat. Students offered a seat after July 1st have one week (7 days) from initial notification to accept or decline their seat.

For more information please see the attached Enrollment Policy or contact the Student Recruitment office at info@sizerschool.org or 978-345-2701 ext 411.